


The Return

by KrystalAnime



Category: Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din hates Sabine, Din is in love with Hera, F/M, Gen, Hera's like Nope, Space Family(Star Wars Rebels), Sux to be him!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25026811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrystalAnime/pseuds/KrystalAnime
Summary: Ahsoka and Sabine hire Din to find Ezra. Then Din meets Hera. My prediction for what we’ll see in The Mandalorian season 2! Featuring characters from Star Wars Rebels. Contains Sabezra hints.
Relationships: Ezra Bridger & Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger/Sabine Wren, Ezrabine - Relationship, sabezra
Comments: 19
Kudos: 41





	The Return

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra are confirmed for appearing in The Mandalorian season 2! Here’s a short prediction of what might happen!

Ahsoka opened her eyes. The Force had finally shown her what she had been waiting for. She rose from her meditation pose and went into the adjoining room.

“It’s time.” she told her companion.

Sabine stopped polishing her guns and looked up, “For what?”

“You’re going to see him. Today.”

Sabine stood immediately, “You mean-?”

Ahsoka nodded.

Sabine held her breath, “It’s been years...”

“Come. We must hurry or we’ll miss him.”

~

Din walked down the dust laden street. Vendors’ tents and small buildings lined the road as local and traveling customers like himself checked out the wares. The kid was hidden in a knapsack across his chest. He had learned that keeping him in the Razor Crest alone was a bad idea.

The noise of the marketplace almost concealed his followers’ footsteps. Almost.

Din casually lead them to a quiet alley, away from the crowd. Then he swiftly turned around, aiming his blaster.

A Mandalorian woman with brightly painted armor pulled out both of her guns as well.

“Please,” said her companion, a Togruta in white garb, raising her hand in peace, “We’ve come to hire your services.”

“What?” Din asked. His tone taking on more of a challenge than a question.

“We recently lost our ship to pirates. We need you to give us a ride to one of our beacons.” the Togruta explained.

“Beacon? What is it a beacon for?”

“For our friend.” the Mandalorian woman spoke up. Her guns were still drawn. As was Din’s.

“He’s meeting us today.” the Togruta continued, “You are the key to helping us find him. I have foreseen it.”

Din took a moment to size the two up. He felt he had a pretty good summary about the Mandalorian. The Togruta however … there was something in her stance and the way she held herself that hinted to him that she may not be just another oracle type. Oddly enough, he had the uneasy sensation that he wouldn’t win against her in a fight.

“I’ll take the Mandalorian. Not you.” Din negotiated.

“What?!” the Mandalorian woman objected.

“Fair enough.” the Togruta replied.

“No! Ahsoka-”

The Togruta placed a hand on her companion’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, Sabine. I’ve seen both paths. This will still get you to him. I’ll meet up with you and Hera later.”

After a moment, Sabine nodded her helmet and holstered her blasters. Din slowly lowered his own gun.

~

After negotiating payment, Din lead Sabine to where the Razor Crest was parked. He keyed open the door.

“I’m Sabine Wren, by the way. And you are?”

Din looked at her, “People usually just call me Mando.”

“Don’t insult me. I’m not calling you that!” Sabine pointed at his chest plate.

“Fine. It’s Din.”

“Just Din?”

He sighed, “Din Djarin.”

“That’s better.”

They entered his ship. Din keyed open an inner door to a small bunk and placed his knapsack gently on it. He made sure Sabine didn’t see what was inside as he keyed the door closed again.

Sabine watched him climb the ladder up to the cockpit. She followed to guide him to the nearest beacon.

~

Hours later, they jumped out of hyperspace.

“There it is, straight ahead.” Sabine pointed at the distant object in space.

Din adjusted some controls, “What frequency is that thing on? I’m not picking up anything in the main ranges.”

“Try frequency zero.”

Din turned around to look at her, “No one uses that.”

“The purrgil do.”

Din began contemplating just how mentally sound his newest customer might not be, when the proximity warning started blaring. He instinctively gripped the controls and managed a quick “Hang on!” to her as he swung the ship into evasive maneuvers.

Not fast enough.

The object bumped the Razor Crest’s underbelly, tossing his ship at an odd angle. Din tried to correct. He over-corrected, flipping the ship up-side-down. From here, they were able to get a good look at what hit them.

“A purrgil.” Sabine said with awe.

They weren’t out of danger yet. Din watched as a giant tentacle from the creature swung towards them. He hit the thrusters and aimed the ship down, planning to dodge underneath. It grazed the top of the Razor Crest, giving them a jolt.

“Hey, if you need flying lessons, I know someone who can help!”

Din did his best to ignore her as he moved the Razor Crest away from the gigantic ship-wrecking beast. Once they were far enough away from the tentacles, he started punching in coordinates for light-speed.

Sabine stopped his hand from reaching the last control. “What? No! We need to get closer to it!”

Din was now convinced she was crazy, “We’ll die if we get any closer!”

“Just turn this ship around so I can get a good look at it!”

“You _didn’t_ get a good look at it before?!”

“Just do it or I’m not paying you the other half!”

Din sighed and rotated the ship 180 degrees.

Sabine leaned closer to look out the view port. “It looks injured.”

They saw a trail of fluid leaving a large gash from the top of the beast. It’s tentacles swung slowly with leftover momentum, crashing clumsily into each other. It’s eyes were open and motionless.

“It looks dead.” he stated.

“There’s no way we did that.” Sabine used her scope to examine the purrgil. After a moment she pointed, “There! Just inside the mouth.”

Din used his own scope, but didn’t see anything strikingly obvious, “What did you see?”

“I’m not sure, but I need to take a closer look. Move the ship towards the mouth.”

Din started to object but Sabine cut him off.

“Or no pay!”

Sighing again, Din maneuvered the Razor Crest carefully to the head of the purrgil. When they were close enough, Sabine exited the cockpit, “Standby.” she ordered on her way down the ladder.

He followed her to find out what her plan was. In the cargo hold, he saw her keying the main door’s controls.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a closer look.” she said, as if it were obvious, “Be right back,” the door opened and its energy field turned on to keep the atmosphere in. As soon as it was open enough, Sabine leaped out into space. Her jetpack turned on, propelling her the rest of the distance to the purrgil’s barely ajar mouth.

Din watched her halt and assess the beast up close. The idea to run up to the cockpit and leave this insanity behind crossed his mind. But his curiosity got the better of him. Besides, he needed the money. Behind him, he heard the bunk door open. The green child hopped down and wandered towards the open cargo door. Din bent down to scoop up his small son so he could watch with him.

Sabine found an opening in the purrgil’s mouth just big enough for her to fit through. She disappeared inside. Din waited one minute. Then two. He mentally calculated how much oxygen her armor must have left, and how many more minutes he should wait until it was futile.

Suddenly, a brilliant green cylinder of light pierced the cheek of the purrgil. It spun around quickly in a large circle. Then the huge chunk of cheek floated away from the animal. Sabine shot out from the opening at top speed. In her arms was a mass- _no a person_ \- Din had never seen before. They were coming in fast!

Din shielded his son and pressed himself against the wall of his ship to give enough leeway. Sabine slowed at the last possible second, dropping herself and the man she carried onto the floor of his ship.

Panting, she went straight working on the foreign clasp under the man’s chin.

Din examined the new person. His helmet and garb were unlike anything he’d ever seen. He had no idea what culture he belonged to.

Finally, Sabine freed the clasp and pulled off the alien helmet. Revealing a human male. At least he looked human, with blue eyes and dark hair. He was gasping for air.

And then Sabine did something Din did not expect.

She took off her own Mandalorian helmet, revealing her face to everyone in the room.

Din jerked back, surprised.

Sabine didn’t notice. Her attention was focused solely on the man lying on the floor underneath her. She leaned closer to caress two scars on his cheek, “Ezra,” she said, her voice faltering.

Din could tell from the severely ragged wheezing, this man wasn’t going to make it.

Ezra’s eyes locked with Sabine’s. He knew as well. His hand held hers as he struggled to take his final breaths.

“No,” Sabine cried, knowing the end was near.

Din’s son wriggled free. He wandered over and carefully climbed onto the man’s chest. Sabine hadn’t noticed him, but Ezra had. He watched as the small child closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. Sabine followed Ezra’s gaze and jumped a little when she saw the small green animal sitting on him. She changed her position, and just before she moved to shove the creature off, Din grabbed her arm.

“Stop,” Din told her firmly.

“Wha-?”

“That’s my son.”

Ezra’s breathing was beginning to sound better. Sabine watched his expression change from one of fear to acceptance. He closed his eyes. Her gaze darted to Din’s son, whose eyes were also closed and whose hands were moving in sync with Ezra’s calming inhales.

Sabine finally understood, “He’s using the Force.” her tone held a mix of awe and relief.

Din watched with her as his son healed Ezra. The child fell back, exhausted. Din caught him.

Sabine moved closer to Ezra. A moment later his eyes opened and found her face.

He smiled up at her, “I knew I could count on you.”

Sabine laughed and cried as she hugged her long lost friend.

~

Ezra’s condition improved rapidly. Eventually he was able to sit up with some help. Leaning against one of the bulkheads, he accepted food and water from Sabine. Din watched them from where he rested against the opposite wall, still cradling his sleeping son.

“I had trouble understanding Ahsoka’s vision. I didn’t realize it was meant to be a literal interpretation. I mean really, Ezra, a purrgil?” Sabine chided him.

“Not one my best laid plans, I admit, but I had a better feeling about hiding in its mouth than being shot at alone in open space. I just hadn’t calculated how reactive the nebula gas would be with my lungs.”

Sabine picked up his helmet and examined it, “You mean this thing is not airtight?”

“Thrawn said it’s designed to automatically pull in any atmosphere it senses to refresh the wearer’s oxygen. I guess they hadn’t tested it in toxic nebula gas.”

Sabine raised an eyebrow, “ _Thrawn said?_ Are you working with him now?”

Ezra took a long sip of water to give the pain of guilt within him a chance to subside, “I didn’t have a choice. The day I left Lothal, the purrgil brought us into the heart of Chiss space.”

“Thrawn’s people.” Sabine understood.

“Yes. He was an outcast there, but he fit in better than I did. And they were too busy fighting...” Ezra looked up with sudden realization, “Sabine, I have to warn the rebellion.”

“It’s the New Republic now. We won.” she smiled, thinking of all the other good news she couldn’t wait to tell him.

Ezra was too focused on the urgency of his own news to celebrate, “I have to warn them, something horrible is coming this way. We have some time, they can’t move as fast as the purrgil, but eventually, they’ll enter the outer rim.”

“Ezra”, Sabine stopped his anxious restlessness and steadied him with her hands on his shoulders, “How much time do we have?”

“I’m not sure. A couple years? Decades? I honestly don’t know how far Chiss space is from here.”

“How did _you_ get _here_ then?” Din asked, finally breaking his own silence.

Ezra looked at him briefly, and then turned back to Sabine, “In the purrgil, I listened and heard your beacons. They guided me to you.”

She smiled sweetly. Their gaze remained steady as she reached for his hand and held it.

Din silently groaned. He couldn’t believe she’d be charmed by such BS. Up until now, he was hoping to learn more about the unknown regions. Now, he was beginning to think Ezra might be nothing more than a charlatan who had run away from her, only to have the misfortune of falling into a purrgil’s mouth during who-knows-what and brought back to one of her purrgil beacons. Sabine was a fool to have fallen for him. Even more of a fool to take off her helmet for him. He couldn’t wait to be done with this job.

“I’m going to head the ship to the nearest port.” Din announced.

Ezra remembered another curiosity. He broke his gaze with Sabine to halt Din, “Wait. Your … son? Can I see him again?”

Din was hesitant at first. Eventually, he decided it wouldn’t harm anything to give him one more look. It wasn’t like he could steal the child and run anytime soon. Not unless he actually had magical purrgil-calling powers. Which was ridiculous.

Din adjusted his arm so they could both see the tiny foundling in his arms.

“He looks just like Master Yoda.” Ezra said.

“Who?” Din asked, suddenly interested.

“Master Yoda. A powerful Jedi who I saw once in the temple on Lothal.”

“He lives on Lothal?”

“I don’t think so. It was more like a vision of him on Lothal. I don’t know where he lives.”

“Do you know where his people live?”

“No, I don’t even know what his people are called.”

Din sighed. He was never going to get the answers he needed. He continued to ascend the ladder to the cockpit.

Sabine looked at Ezra with an expression that told him to wait here while she followed Din up.

Din sat in his seat. He was not happy, but also not surprised, to hear her walk into the cockpit.

“Take us to these coordinates.” Sabine said, punching them into his console.

Din grumbled inwardly but said nothing as he sent the ship into hyperspace.

A moment passed before Din turned and asked her, “When you said my son was using the Force, what did you mean?”

“He’s Force-sensitive. He used it to heal Ezra.”

“What is the Force?”

“You’ve never heard of it? It’s the power that the Jedi use.”

Din thought for a moment, “I’ve heard tales of the Jedi and of a power they used, but I thought they were just tales. I never knew anyone who possessed such abilities as him.” he looked down at the sleeping child.

“Ezra can tell you more about it than I can.”

Din wasn’t sure he could trust any new information on this topic from them, but it would be better than what he had now. Which was nothing, “Does Ezra know anyone else who can use the Force?”

“Yeah; himself.”

~

The Razor Crest jumped out of hyperspace. Once they maneuvered into orbit around Lothal, Sabine commed her contact there.

“Spectre 5 to the Ghost, do you copy?”

A moment passed before there was a reply on the comm, “Sabine? Hey, how have you been?”

“Hera?” tears welled in Sabine’s eyes, “I found him!”

~

They landed planet side. It was a small city with a modest ship port. Din keyed open the ship’s door. Ezra had regained his strength and strode out first. He smiled as he gazed around the port, took in the surrounding buildings, and looked up at the blue sky, elated. Then he saw their destination; the Ghost. It was the only other ship at this port. Ezra started toward it at a quick pace.

Sabine exited the Razor Crest next, and did something blasphemous.

She put her Mandalorian helmet back on.

“What are you doing?!” Din asked, furious.

She turned to him, as oblivious as when she had taken off her helmet, “What?”

“ _Heretic_ _!_ Even if you wanted to show your face to your dying boyfriend as a last request; once you take your helmet off, you can never put it back on.”

A nanosecond passed before it clicked in Sabine’s mind, “Oh,” she said and he could tell by her body language that she was rolling her eyes, “You’re one of _those_ zealots.” She took a couple more steps towards the Ghost before pausing and spinning around to face him one last time, “And he’s _not_ my boyfriend.”

With that, she turned her back towards him and followed Ezra at a casual pace. Din fumed silently where he stood for a moment before realizing that he had to go after her. He still needed to get paid. Din muttered a few Mandalorian curses under his breath.

The Ghost’s cargo bay door opened.

And suddenly Din’s curses went silent. There, on the ramp, stood a green Twi’lek woman with the most gorgeous smile he had ever seen.

She embraced Ezra with unashamed tears in her eyes, and kissed his forehead. Din got the feeling her affections towards Ezra were motherly in nature. He hoped so.

Sabine was next in line for a hug, and she took off her helmet again to receive one from the woman.

Din was struck with a strange ambivalent sense of being an outsider to this family and wanting to keep it that way while wanting to hang around to learn more. Specifically, more about her.

A boy with tan skin and green hair appeared behind her. He smiled at Sabine and shyly at Ezra. Ezra looked very surprised.

Din was close enough now to hear the woman introduce them, “Ezra, this is my son, Jacen.”

Ezra looked from her to Sabine to Jacen with shock.

Sabine seemed to know his unspoken question, “Yes, he’s Kanan and Hera’s son.”

This caused Ezra to embrace the Twi’lek woman again in a crushing hug she wasn’t quite expecting. And Din almost shouted to Ezra to be gentle. He stopped himself before he said it, surprised at his own protectiveness over this person whom he did not even know the name of. It wouldn’t be the first time, though.

The woman told them to come inside. Ezra and Sabine did so with an excited young Jacen leading their way.

It was then that the Twi’lek realized Din was there, “Can I help you?”

Din struggled for the words only for a split second, “I still need to be paid. I provided the ride.”

The woman smiled, “Thank you-”

“Din,” he offered before she asked, “Din Djarin.”

“Hera Syndulla,” she returned the introduction, then motioned, “Please, come in.”

~

Din wasn’t the trusting type. Yet he found himself accepting nearly all of Hera’s invitations. Her offer to come inside her ship, and to sit with them in the lounge. He was tolerant of her droid, Chopper. He even said yes to dinner before he realized what that would entail. Sabine knew what it would entail. He could tell by her raised eyebrow at him. Din paid no attention to her.

If Sabine held any hostility towards him being a true Mandalorian, she was too distracted by Ezra to properly express it. That was fine by him. It allowed him to focus more on Hera.

“Ahsoka commed to let me know she’s going to be a little late.” Hera handed a mug of tea to Din, “You’ll need to wait a bit to get the other half of your payment.”

Din took the mug from her, “Thank you, that’s fine.” However, he wasn’t sure what to do with the drink once he had it. He placed it on the lounge’s table in front of him, trying to ignore Sabine’s smirk before she turned her attention back to Ezra.

Ezra sat on the floor with Jacen. Three toys floated above them as Chopper rolled by to deposit another one. It took a second for Din to realize that the toys didn’t have anti-gravity generators. Jacen was making them hover. Ezra was teaching him.

Din watched closely, recognizing the closed eyes and hand movements that Hera’s son used. They were the same gestures he had seen his own son use. So this was the Force.

Hera smiled at them and explained, “He inherited those powers from his father.”

Din felt the child pop his head out of the knapsack to watch, “Does his father know how to teach someone to use the Force?”

“He did...” for the first time this evening, Hera’s smile faded into sorrow. Guilt filled his heart. Guilt for accidentally causing her to feel this way by his question. And guilt for the hope he felt at hearing that she had no husband. It was way too soon to be considering that. What was he thinking?

He hadn’t felt his son climb out of the knapsack. The first indication he had was Hera’s confused expression and her, “Who is that?”

Din followed her gaze to see his child on the floor, playing with Jacen and Ezra.

“That’s my son.” Din answered Hera proudly.

Erza invited the little one into their circle and handed him a toy. Din watched as Ezra gently taught him how to hover the toy just as he had shown Jacen. He was beginning to think there was more to Ezra than he initially thought. Perhaps he wasn’t a charlatan after all.

Hera watched the small child play with the figurines, “He’s cute.”

“Does he take after your looks?” Sabine asked snidely.

Din glared at her, and answered for Hera’s sake, “He’s a foundling. I’ve been trying to find more information about his people and abilities.”

“Ahsoka might be able to help you out.” Hera said, her smile returning, “She’s very knowledgeable in the Force.”

“I could see that.” Din agreed, matching her warm tone, “When I met her, I got the feeling she was a powerful warrior.”

“Thanks. I am.”

Everyone turned their gaze towards the figure in the hallway.

“Ahsoka!” Ezra jumped up to hug her.

“It’s good to see you, Ezra,” she said, “I’m glad Sabine brought you back to us.”

They exchanged a few more jovial words before Ahsoka finally noticed Din. She walked over to him and handed him a sack of credits, “Thank you for helping us. Here’s the other half as promised.”

Din could tell by her tone she was expecting him to leave immediately. But he wasn’t ready to just yet. Obviously, Ahsoka was unaware of Hera’s invitation to him for dinner. One he couldn’t fully accept. He needed something else to buy him time.

Hera was looking at him, perhaps wondering if he would take his leave or remember her invite to third meal. Sabine had her arms crossed with a smug _y_ _ou can go now_ expression. And now, an oblivious Ezra was looking upon the awkwardly drawn out moment.

Din needed more time, “… Ezra, I wanted to hear more about the unknown regions. Especially the great danger you mentioned.”

A light went on in Ezra’s expression, and he immediately jumped into his panicked rant about foreign threats approaching on their territory in an unknown amount of time. Ahsoka and Hera listened with bemusement while Sabine hid her face behind her hand.

Din pretended to be paying attention while he thought up a way to talk more with Hera.

The opportunity arose when Hera decided she’d heard enough of Ezra’s story to determine this threat wasn’t as imminent as he feared. She tried to calm Ezra, but Ahsoka, on the other hand, was still very interested in hearing more. The Twi’lek gave up.

This gave Din the chance to start a side conversation with Hera. Through it, he discovered that she hated the Empire with a passion, she had been fighting it successfully throughout her entire adult life, and she was one of the best pilots in the New Republic.

Din was impressed. He shared with her some history of his own distaste for the Empire, segueing into his current situation with remaining Imperials still after his son.

Hera expressed her sympathy for them as she gazed at the young child still sitting on the floor with Jacen.

Din thought for a moment. Hera seemed like the perfect partner for him. Romantic or platonic. With his clan gone, he found he missed having a home base to return to. He wouldn’t mind at all if his new home base were mobile and piloted by an expert. Hera came with strong allies, too. Perhaps if Ezra stuck around, he could even teach Din’s son how to control his powers. Yes, it would be nice to belong to a family such as this one. Even if it came with a heathen like Sabine.

Din watched the children, “They play well together.”

Hera nodded, her eyes still on the boys.

Sabine had joined Ahsoka and Ezra’s conversation, and he could tell it was starting to come to an end. And soon, so would his. It was now or never.

Din found the courage he needed, “I know how hard it is being a single parent. You know, if we combined our resources, it might be easier on both of us. I’m a strong fighter and bounty hunter. I can contribute income-”

Hera smiled and tilted her head towards him, “I appreciate the offer. But I’m not looking for a boyfriend.”

Din quickly went to plan B, “Who said anything about a boyfriend? Our partnership could be purely platonic and economical.”

Hera turned her full attention to him. Her expression was sympathetic but firm, “I don’t need that complication in my life right now. But if you and your son need a safe place from the Imperials, you might check out the Jedi temple Luke Skywalker is using to train others like him.”

Upon hearing the word _Jedi_ , Ezra was immediately interested. He butted into their conversation with, “Who’s Luke Skywalker?”

The others joined the conversation. Din soon had a new lead. Ahsoka finally took notice of the green child. She also gave Din a little more information on his species. Though she didn’t know enough to locate the people or home planet.

At some point, Hera left to prepare a simple dinner with Chopper’s help. When she returned, Ezra commented on it being his absolute favorite. He devoured his food while Sabine teased him about his manners. They were sitting awfully close together.

Din was offered a plate and he was glad Sabine was too engaged to notice him explain his clan’s customs to Hera. He gave the plate to his son instead, who gobbled up large, sticky handfuls.

After dinner, the chatter slowed.

Ezra yawned, and asked, “Is it alright if I crash here tonight?”

“Of course it is.” Hera replied, “You too, Ahsoka.”

“Thank you.”

“Wait,” Ezra counted on his fingers, “If Jacen has Kanan’s room, then where’s Ahsoka staying?”

“You can take my top bunk,” Hera offered to her.

“Or-” Sabine proposed, “Ahsoka can have Zeb’s room to herself, and Ezra can have the top bunk in my cabin.” she punched him playfully.

“Really?” Ezra sounded a bit too excited.

“Yeah, I want to show you some of the artwork I created while you were away.” Sabine kept her tone casual, but Din suspected she had an ulterior motive for her _‘not-boyfriend’_.

With Ahsoka bidding them goodnight, Din knew it was his time to go as well. He thanked Hera and let her show him the way out of the Ghost.

“Hey,” Hera stopped him before he stepped off the ramp, “I may not be looking for a partner, but if you’re interested in giving the ex-Imperials some chaos, we could use someone with your skills. I know a team who’s looking to hire another person.”

“Thanks, I might take you up on that.”

After exchanging a bit more information, they bid each other farewell.

As Din walked back to his ship, carrying his son, he decided this job had been well worth it. Not only did he get paid in full without a fight, but he had some leads for the child, another job opportunity, and new allies. It was always good to have more friends. Even if one of them was a heretic.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Din doesn’t stand a chance. XD Poor Din. I imagined he would like Hera, as she’s basically all the best parts of his previous love interests combined. Except for physical strength. I still prefer Cara/Din as their dynamic is ultimately a better match. But I’d be open to Hera/Din being canon if it meant more screen time for Hera. Because she’s awesome!


End file.
